Gather from every side to my sacrifice. Ezekiel 39:17-20

One of the last things I ever wanted to do was to overwhelm my readers. I truly wanted you to be inspired enough to dig into God's word and find these things for yourselves. Besides that, having sat under far too may manipulative sermons, where they tell you, you have to be a missionary and save the world. I have learned that being a missionary is not even close to my heart's desire, but teaching is. Another thing you should know about me is that I was not a good student when I was younger. Over time and by focusing on one class at a time, I was able to obtain honor status, but that took years. So, I can empathize with those who struggle to learn and absorb information. I edit my writings excessively, and since I am in honesty writing to myself, they excite me. In truth, I have often read the passage already, made pages of notes so that I can understand it, and then begun the process of relaying the things I see, to you. I hope you have the endurance and capability to do the same with my writings. I want us all to get better at understanding the nature and character of this amazing God we serve. He is our Father you know.

With that said, here is a short and yet continuing dive into Ezekiel 39.

Ezekiel 39:17 NASB "As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Speak to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field, "Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice which I am going to sacrifice for you, as a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood.

Ezekiel 39:18-20 continues with the same descriptives, and I will leave you to read them on your own.

The phrase, son of man, is found throughout the Bible. Here in verse 17, the directive is being spoken to Ezekiel. Uppercase or lowercase seems to be irrelevant as the context and person being spoken to is key in understanding the verse in question. I point this out as Jesus Christ referred to himself as the Son of man, and the Father often referred to Jesus as the Son of man. (I only bring this up as some see this passage as the same event we see in Revelation 19. We will dive into that momentarily.)

The command to Ezekiel is to: “speak to every kind of bird and every beast of the field.” They are told to Assemble; come, and gather from every side, to what?

• “My sacrifice which I am going to sacrifice for you, as a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel,”
• “that you may eat flesh and drink blood.”

This passage sounds all too familiar.

Revelation 19:17-18 NASB 17) Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, "Come, assemble for the great supper of God, 18) so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men, and slaves, and small and great."

While there are similar properties, and, it sounds like this is marriage supper of the Lamb, is it the same event?

I do not believe so and here is why.

• Although both scenarios entail war, one is fought with Jesus as the Messiah, along with the saints; while the other employs fire of some form.
• One scenario transitions quickly into the millennial reign, while the other has specific timings involved.
• Revelation 19:20 depicts the judgment of the beast and the false prophet, while Ezekiel speaks nothing of these two.
• Revelation 19:21 describes the slaughter as exclusively with the sword as it comes from the mouth of Jesus. Ezekiel, on the other, while not speaking of hand to hand combat, focuses on fire alone.
• Revelation 19 conveys the image of combatants being the only ones who die, while Ezekiel subtly points out that Israelis are killed as well.

• In Revelation 19:15 the sentence includes Jesus saying, that He will rule them with a rod of iron. This idea of ruling is openly expressing the time when He returns and remains on the earth during the millennial reign. We do not see that in Ezekiel 39 as a part of the annihilation of Gog and his armies.
  Revelation 19:11 NASB And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness, He judges and wages war. Revelation 19:20-21 NASB 20) And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. 21) And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.
  Ezekiel 39:3-6 NASB "I will strike your bow from your left hand and dash down your arrows from your right hand. 4) "You will fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you as food to every kind of predatory bird and beast of the field. 5) "You will fall on the open field; for it is I who have spoken," declares the Lord GOD. 6) "And I will send fire upon Magog and those who inhabit the coastlands in safety; and they will know that I am the LORD.

I am going to touch on Ezekiel 39:21-22 because there are always critics. The critic would say, I am not thorough or just did not read far enough, for Ezekiel does speak to the millennial reign; and they are right it does, but Revelation 19 demonstrates one continuous flow into the 1000 year reign, while Ezekiel 38 and 39 have specific day lengths involved, such as the seven months before they search; and, then continuously burying bodies for seven months.

Whether this firestorm we see in Ezekiel happens before, during, or after the rapture is irrelevant, as we are still looking at 14 months. That is 14 months of relative calm in Israel, and the catching away of the church, to many, is the boundary between time frames.

Everything happening after the removal of the church is the time of God's wrath.

So, if I could use the two seven month periods within Ezekiel 38,39, then we are 14 months, or 420 days, according to the Jewish calendar, into the seven years of wrath. While the Antichrist may have come on the scene almost instantly, waving his contract of peace, and calling for many to sign it, the false prophet will not show his true colors until 1260 days into this time of wrath.

Add to this mix, the fact that God, immediately after the removal of the church, sends two prophets from heaven who stand in the streets of Jerusalem, doing what? Telling the Jewish community that the Messiah came already, and will come back again soon; they are also preaching that repentance is necessary by turning of the heart toward God; we are also aware that they perform mighty miracles, such as: stopping the rain, calling fire down from heaven (considering what may have already happened, this will be a heart-stopping event,) and, they will kill, with fire from their mouths, anyone who tries to harm them. (Try to picture that, as some sniper, from well over a mile away, attempts to kill them. Snipers tend to get you when you are not expecting it, and yet these guys know everything and stop it with fire.)

These two prophets stand in the streets 1260 days. This time frame overlaps the period of burials, and may well be an integrated part of those burials. At 1260 God decides it is time for the two prophets to come back to heaven and allows them to be killed. What a coincidence that they will be killed just as the false prophet steps into public view.

What have we accomplished here? We have pointed out that Ezekiel 39 and Revelation 19 while having almost precise wording, are two different events. One thing you should understand about the Revelation. While John and the other disciples may have been thought of as ignorant men, that spoke in somewhat common vernacular, they walked with the Son of God for three years, and, they were obedient to stay put and receive the Holy Spirit – the Paraclete that would teach you all things. In a sense, John too became a Rabbi; a Rabbi who knew the words of Ezekiel too well. Is it any wonder that the terminology would be the same, and so precise.

God, was and is trying to convey a message. In Ezekiel, He is describing events that are going to come. Those events include the Messiah sitting in judgment over the nations; whereas in the Revelation, the events are specific to the seven-year period, known as the time of wrath; because of that timing, the firestorm against Gog may have already occurred.

A friend of mine with many skill sets recently stepped out in faith and made efforts to buy a ranch in Idaho (USA). While the houses where I live are small with no land and sell for $500,000, this ranch was a mere $250,000. They made appropriate arrangements, packed their house into a trailer, and then watched as things started to fall apart at the last minute. Money problems, escrow problems, and changes in the attitudes from some. He asked for prayer, and quickly. I wrote him back and said something to this effect.

I had climbed a few rock faces, when I was younger, but only within safe limits. Why just safe limits; because I was not brave enough to risk my life (effectively everything,) for the joy of seeing what was on the other side. Sometimes faith is just like climbing that a high rock face, only we are asked to push our limitations beyond our comfort zone. While you are climbing in places you have never been, pushing your limits and boundaries, occasionally risking your life, it is scary. But afterward, standing at the top looking at the beauty you would have missed, it is exhilarating. Faith is like that. What the Word of God presents to us, is a climb that challenges everything we know. There are inherent dangers, and God knows that; but He keeps trying to remind us that in reaching the top of the ascent there is a great reward, and a life spent with Him in glory, even if our lives down here on earth comes to an end.

All this stuff we surround ourselves with keeps us comfortable in our fear. I long for the life with Him, and I long to go out as a warrior. If writing makes me a warrior, then so be it; hopefully, you will join me.

As Joel Richardson says frequently, I could be wrong about the way I have conveyed prophetic events and their timing. I already know that I conflict with how Joel sees Revelation 19, but it is not my goal to confuse and mislead you. I try to convey these events I see in a way that is logical and makes sense given the context. I implore you to read and study; it is the only preventative for being deceived. 

With the travelers corpses still lying on the ground. Ezekiel 39:14-16

As I began to take on this section, I was reminded how far too many times that Bible teachings, in general, have been fraught with tradition, a lack of logic, and bereft of truth. This is what I grew up on. I am not trying to shove some new doctrine down your throats, this should be fairly obvious as I point out the multiple meanings of some word and how a different word fits the context better than what has been the standard religious choice for years.

A brief example of what I am talking about comes out of pulpit rants about Paul's thorn in the flesh. I have heard this called a physical ailment; bad eyes, and a multitude of other things. While few have ever mentioned the strong possibility that Paul was an angry man with a hair trigger. We see evidence of that anger in his interactions with Barnabas concerning John Mark; a young man who later became valuable to Paul. Passages concerning John Mark are below. And then, there was Paul, confronting Peter face to face over an event that had happened quite probably over 15 years prior, and Paul only received the information second hand (Gal 2:11-13).

So, if I was going to understand who Paul was, and what he was talking about, then I have to consider his education and usage of words. In Acts 23:6 Paul tells us that he too was a Pharisee; the book of Acts (8:1-3,) in speaking about the death of Stephen says that, Saul approved of his murder, and that Saul tried to destroy the church; going from house to house, he dragged out the believers. Acts 12: 25 Tells of the association of Saul/Paul, Barnabas, and John Mark; and how in a relatively short period of time any good feelings they had quickly dissipated as Paul and Barnabas parted company over what Paul perceives as John Mark's irresponsible actions. This story is detailed in Acts 15:36-39 there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another. Paul informed us in 2 Corinthians 12:7 of his understanding of why his thorn keeps hanging on, when he said, “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, ...!” This verse is where this insipid teaching on Paul's thorn in the flesh comes from.

Paul, the Pharisee, was exquisitely skilled in the law and the prophets, and therefore able to stand his ground against anyone who contended with him when it came to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore, when speaking to Jews, he used vernacular that they were accustomed to, and “thorn in the flesh” was one of those subjects. Even in its original form, the phrase had a context. So let's examine that for a moment.

Numbers 33:55 NASB 'But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them will become as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land in which you live.

The inhabitants of the land of Canaan, were, in this case, what would become the thorns if not taken care of appropriately. Is it possible that the thorns in our life could then be thought of as problems, just as these inhabitants were? Certainly. So, it is easy to see that Paul also had a problem that lingered. If it was anger, as I suspect it was, then it was the very thing that kept him humble. In my own life, anger seems to be my reminder that God is in control, not me.

So, what do I know of Paul so far: That Saul, the Pharisee, was willing to kill for something he thought was a kingdom duty. I also can ascertain that Paul was an orator that knew what he was talking about, and he had a temper.

With that in mind, let's pursue the next section of Ezekiel, and do it with a non-traditional mind.

Ezekiel 39:14 NASB "They will set apart men who will constantly pass through the land, burying those who were passing through, even those left on the surface of the ground, in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months, they will make a search.

Set apart is the word bâdal and means to divide (in various senses literally or figuratively, separate, distinguish, differ, select. The word bâdal is used twice in the passage to convey the idea that decision-makers will separate and distinguish among the people those that will specifically take care of the bodies.

Once again, I bring up Dr. Chuck Missler, an engineer who felt strongly that the fire and the effects are nuclear. Dr. Missler, however, would leave you with the urging, you decide as to how you will perceive and deal with this event.

• "for the continual duty of going through the land and burying with the travelers the corpses still lying out on the ground." Here I use the Complete Jewish Bible version as it translates this passage with an added clarity.
  Take note of how it says, "and burying with the travelers the corpses still lying on the ground. As you can imagine, 'a nuclear type weapon, is not particularly selective. In other words, it does not merely kill the enemy; it kills everything within range.
  As I remember, there is a circumference of total devastation, and then varying degrees of prolonged death the farther away you get.

Something odd about this, as this burial place is called the travelers' valley. There is a logical reason for this as it is heavily used for movement in and out of the southern regions of Israel. This is not the valley of Armageddon, that we are accustomed to hearing about. The travelers, in this case, could be mixed with non-combatants. Telling us that there are dead civilians, here in the South East, leaves the door open for us to understand that there was an attack with many fronts. And, this is exactly what we see in Psalm 83.

• The usage of the phrase, “ in order to cleanse it,” puts the designated cleaners into another category altogether.
  This is talking about Jewish ceremonial cleansing. I will leave you to read the whole of the passage from Numbers; but, take note of how Israel sees these dead bodies.
  Numbers 19:11-15 BBE 13) Anyone touching the body of a dead man without making himself clean in this way, makes the House of the Lord unclean; and that man will be cut off from Israel:

Following the law and keeping yourself from not being cut-off from Israel would be a vital thing, especially in the midst of all this chaos.

Ezekiel 39:15 BBE And while they go through the land, if anyone sees a man's bone, he is to put up a sign by the place till those who are doing the work have put it in the earth in the valley of Hamon-Gog.

“special crews will be appointed to give a proper burial to the bodies of the dead enemies in order for the land to be cleansed. The land would have been defiled by unburied corpses. Those who would come in contact with the corpses out in the open would become ceremonially unclean (according to Num_19:14-16). There will be so many bodies that all kinds of birds will be called in order to help dispose of them (Eze_39:17-20)” LASB

This last statement, “There will be so many bodies that all kinds of birds will be called in order to help dispose of them,” shows up in verse 17, but we also find this same wording in Revelation 19:17-18. The context of the passages in Revelation, is in part, an invitation to the wedding supper of the Lamb. There is a particular gore to that scenario, which I find very unappealing. I was also told recently, that a certain Bible teacher that I admire, claims that what we see coming in Ezekiel 39:17-20 is the exact same battle we see in Revelation 19. Either I did not understand what my friend said, or this teacher is wrong, because, in Ezekiel 38 and 39, we do not Jesus coming as the Messiah, as we do in the Revelation.

"the name of the city will be Hamonah."

What city are we talking about, and does it really matter? Probably not, but then we, as students of the Bible, should see nothing as insignificant. 

Ezekiel 39:16 NASB "And even the name of the city will be Hamonah. So they will cleanse the land."'

hămônâh Hebrew word meaning multitude. Considering the numbers of people now dead, it makes sense.

It is anybody's guess as to which city Ezekiel is speaking of.

I am including a map of the area so you can begin to get a feel for where this Valley of the Travelers would be. The roads come in from the South East and pass above and slightly right of the Dead Sea.

I would not presume this area to be the only place one would find dead bodies after this onslaught, and, as I might have said, nuclear weapons are not very selective. Gog's armies will cause many to die and so will God's retaliation.

As a friend of mine pointed out to me after a recent post, that God is in control. Perhaps it is time we learned that.

And I will set my glory among the nations. Ezekiel 39: 21-24.

Having slaughtered Gog and his armies on the mountains of Israel. Okay, maybe that was a little harsh, besides that, my pastor says I am a little edgy and slaughtered is an edgy type of word. And yet, that is how things seem.

Does God wipe out the Islamic armies of the world with this battle? Not by any stretch of the imagination; and yet, that is the garbage that many of our so-called Bible teachers teach. Why? Because in reality, these prophecies/stories, are much like fractals, which, when you look closely they make no sense, but step back and take it all in, and then you can see the overall picture. All of God's word is like this. Some aspects of the fractal are beautiful in themselves and carry deep meaning, and yet make up the larger, more complex picture.

In the last post, I covered Ezekiel 39:17-20. It too is a fractal but without a doubt a bloody and deadly one. It has all the components of most horror movies. Blood, fireballs from heaven, lightning strikes upon the enemy, and hail, most likely in the hundred pound range, falling upon the enemy. God speaks here, much as he does in Revelation 19 where he calls forth the flesh-eating birds to feast upon the dead. Apparently, God's word is a little edgy.

In the midst of all this horror and chaos we have this:

Ezekiel 39:21 NASB "And I will set My glory among the nations; and all the nations will see My judgment which I have executed and My hand which I have laid on them.

As I speak, the nations are spread across multiple continents, speaking a variety of languages. Since God passed out those languages when he separated man at the tower of Babel, then I suppose this is not an issue for Him.

The words in the sentence give me nothing that explains or conveys what this glory will be or look like; so, let's pursue it a bit deeper. The Complete Jewish Bible translates this verse in this way:

“Thus will I display my glory among the nations, so that all the nations will see my judgment when I execute it and my hand when I lay it on them.”

The Word Study Dictionary tells us:

“This Hebrew word also means to put, to place, or something literally placed: the luminaries in the sky (Gen_1:17); God's bow in the clouds (Gen_9:13); the ark on a cart (1Sa_6:8); the abomination in the temple. It could also be something figuratively placed: an obstacle (Eze_3:20); God's Spirit (Isa_42:1).”

The verse itself tells us that God will set His glory among the nations. This display among the nations is not the first time He has done something like this, for He set His glory among Israel as they moved through the wilderness. We see that in Scripture as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Is this what He will do among the nations, perhaps not since the cloud and the fire was a benefit to Israel, and we are talking about the time of wrath and judgment.

When I look up the word glory I get this:

kabod (458c); from H3513; abundance, honor, glory:

The problem with these words is that they are intangible; only demonstrated through a relationship of trust. But God is not looking, at least during this period, the time of wrath, to show people that He can be trusted. He has already established that aspect of His character. (And yet, because He guaranteed that the wrath would come, isn't He, once again, establishing that He is trustworthy, in a negative way?)

The word see is rō’eh: A verb meaning to see. It's basic denotation is to see with the eyes (Gen_27:1).

As we have explored the meanings of words we can see that the judgments are the things to be seen.

“and all the nations will see My judgment which I have executed and My hand which I have laid on them.”

What, in brief, are the judgments against Israel and the Nations?

• Revelation 6:12 AMPC .. there was a great earthquake; and the sun grew black as sackcloth of hair, [the full disc of] the moon became like blood.
• Joel 2:30-31 NASB "I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire, and columns of smoke. 31) "The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood Before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.
• Revelation 6:13 is taken from Isaiah 34:4 “.. And the sky will be rolled up like a scroll; All their hosts will also wither away As a leaf withers from the vine, Or as one withers from the fig tree.”
• Revelation 6:16 AMPC And they called to the mountains and the rocks, Fall on (before) us and hide us from the face of Him Who sits on the throne and from the deep-seated indignation and wrath of the Lamb. [Isa_2:19-21; Hos_10:8]
• Revelation 7:1 AMPC ... no wind should blow on the earth or sea or upon any tree. [Zec 6:5]
• Revelation 7:14 AMPC .. the great tribulation (persecution), and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. [Gen_49:11; Dan_12:1]
• Daniel 12:1 CJB ".. there will be a time of distress unparalleled between the time they became a nation and that moment. ..
• Revelation 8:7 CJB .. there came hail and fire mingled with blood, and it was thrown down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
• Revelation 8:8-9 CJB .. looked like an enormous blazing mountain was hurled into the sea. A third of the sea turned to blood, 9) a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
• Revelation 8:10-11 CJB .. a third of the water became bitter, and many people died from the water that had been turned bitter.
• Revelation 9:1-5 CJB .. came locusts, and they were given power like the power scorpions have on earth. 4) They were instructed not to harm the grass on the earth, any green plant or any tree, but only the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5) The locusts were not allowed to kill them, only to inflict pain on them for five months; and the pain they caused was like the pain of a scorpion sting.
• Revelation 9:14-15 CJB saying to the sixth angel, the one with the shofar, "Release the four angels that are bound at the great river Euphrates!" 15) And they were released. These four angels had been kept ready for this moment, for this day and month and year, to kill a third of mankind;

While there is more, can you see a visible aspect to what is being poured out upon the earth?

Ezekiel 39:22 NASB "And the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God from that day onward.

Again, there is a horrid variety of explanations on this, most foolishly cut Israel out of the picture prior to this moment in time, as they espouse their replacement theology. God is not done with Israel and this is a perfect example.

The verse tells us, “from that day forward,” the house of Israel will know that I am the Lord. The question is, from what day? The short answer is, from the beginning of the seven years of wrath and judgment that includes Israel.

Isaiah 25:7 NASB And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, Even the veil which is stretched over all nations.

Isaiah 29:18 NASB On that day the deaf will hear words of a book, And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.

I suppose at this point the question that I have asked, just as most others have asked, is why?

Ezekiel 39:23-24 NASB "The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity because they acted treacherously against Me, and I hid My face from them; so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and all of them fell by the sword. 24) "According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I dealt with them, and I hid My face from them."'"

The explanation is self-explanatory, but there an aspect that I have trouble with, “and all of them fell by the sword.” Now, is it true that all of Israel falls by the sword? The answer is NO, and we know that one-third of Israel escapes being killed during the seven years.

It seems that the translators lead us astray as well when the phrase “and all” can mean a variety of things depending upon the preceding noun or a definite article.

The Word Study Dictionary states:

kōl: A particle meaning each, every, all, everything, the whole, entire. It has an inclusive meaning of all or every one of something. Its exact meaning must be discerned from its usage in its context. Some representative samplings will help: With the definite article, it means the whole or everything of something (Ecc_11:5); used before a definite noun, it expresses the whole of that noun, the whole earth (Gen_9:19); whole people (Gen_41:40). Used after a noun, it can refer to the whole or entirety of the preceding noun (2Sa_2:9); before a plural noun, it usually means all, all the nations (Isa_2:2); before a collective noun, it means all or every, all people (Gen_7:21). Before a singular noun, it means every (Est_3:8). Other nuances of its use can be discerned from studying its context closely.

While not killing them all God indeed turned His face and forsook them.

Deuteronomy 31:17 AMPC Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide My face from them. And they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?

Having struggled to find for myself who God is, this is a little hard to accept. Is it an accurate statement? Yes, then it is true that, for a time, God turned His face and forsook Israel. I sit with judgmental men who make comments like this only they condemn far too many to hell, as they decide who God is turning His back on. What I see as a puzzlement is a God who tattoos the faces of His people – this includes you and me, on His hands and then tells us that our faces are ever before Him. The key to understanding this lies in Israel choosing to disobey. Since sin is an integrated aspect of this body I drag around, then my only hope is to lean heavily on the one who gave me His righteousness.

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Assemble and come together, from everyside to my sacrifice. Eze 39:17-20

 As I talked previously about Ezekiel's prophecy against Gog and his armies; and how they will be killed on the mountains of Israel; I explained how Israel gathers Gog's weapons for use as firewood for the next seven years. The time frame involved seemed so obvious to me, as this all happens moments before the rapture of the church and the Antichrist persona steps onto the stage.

• "On that day I will give Gog a burial ground there in Israel... So they will bury Gog there with all his horde, (Ezekiel 39:11 NASB)
• "For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them to cleanse the land .. (Ezekiel 39:12-13 NASB)

An obvious factor that we tend to ignore in our group Bible studies is that Israel will still be filled with a level of violence during these burials. Think about what goes on there in Israel on a daily basis: rock throwing, stabbings, car rammings, and, an occasional bomb, but this is almost daily.

And yet, at some crucial moment, when the world thinks they need peace, a man will step forward and say, I have everything in control; let us have peace, and he will enact a seven-year peace treaty with many.

Daniel 9:27 NASB "And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate."

How could you have any of these things happen unless it fits into a little crack of time just moments before God pours out His wrath upon the earth?

As clear as the previous verses in Ezekiel seemed to me, Ezekiel 39:17-20 has clouded my mind once again. Let me show you why.

Ezekiel 39:17-20 NASB "As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Speak to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field, "Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice which I am going to sacrifice for you, as a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. 18) "You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan. 19) "So you will eat fat until you are glutted, and drink blood until you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. 20) "You will be glutted at My table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all the men of war," declares the Lord GOD.

The entire passage speaks of flesh eating birds being gathered to God's great sacrifice. He includes mighty men and the blood of princes, and, “you will be glutted at My table.” This is just a recap, but immediately my mind said, I know this scenario, or at least I think I do.

Let me point something out you may have missed.

So, while the citizens of Israel may be making note of where bodies are, seven months later, someone will make a search.

Ezekiel 39:14 NASB "They will set apart men who will constantly pass through the land, burying those who were passing through, even those left on the surface of the ground, in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months, they will make a search.

This time of burial, although affected by extenuating circumstances, is going on for quite some time.

What happens in the mean time? (We are notorious for assuming that everything gets put on hold while the scenario painted for us happens.) The scavengers come out. Birds like Condors; Vultures; Ravens; Sea Gulls, and the like. But aren't they around somewhere, close by, even when you don't want them?

Why does something like flesh eating birds create a point of confusion about the end times? Because what we see in Ezekiel 39:17-20 is remarkably similar to what many call the wedding supper of the Lamb. I am telling you this because I have sat under false teachers and their teachings that do no more than cloud your mind and make you hate prophecy and the prophetic books of Revelation, Ezekiel, and Daniel, to name a few. In my momentary confusion, I thought, I have advocated two distinct wars, at two distinct times, but then I see this aspect that sounds just like the “great supper of the lamb”, which made think I too have taught falsely. It was not until I looked the scenario in Revelation 19 that it all became clear again. These wars are completely different, at different times, and yet have many similar properties. Keep your heads clear. The answers are there in the scriptures themselves.

You find this “great supper of the Lamb” in Revelation 19.

Revelation 19:17-18 NASB 17) Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, "Come, assemble for the great supper of God, 18) so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men, and slaves, and small and great."

You might think at first glance they are talking about the same thing. The man who leads the Monday morning Bible study has intertwined these two events on several occasions. It is not simply a mistake on his part since he has been shown, from the Word of God, how and why they are different events. (His lack of concern and unwillingness to adjust himself to align with the Word of God, make him a false teacher.)

Why then is Revelation 19 so different from Ezekiel 39?

• In Ezekiel 39 it is Gog and his armies amassed against Israel specifically, and they are killed by brimstone, hail, lightning, and floods.

• In Revelation 19 Jesus, at the end of the time of wrath, has come riding across the skies upon a white horse. (This, by the way, is the only passage in the book Revelation that Islam believes, and that is because they believe that this is their savior, not ours.)
Revelation 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness, He judges and wages war.
Revelation 19:14, 15 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.

This time they are not amassed against Israel, they are gathered to fight against the King of Kings.

Revelation 19:19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.

There is no Gog listed in this war, but there are the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies.

Quick question. Who is this beast? He is the same person that proffered the peace treaty seven years before. We do not know his identity as yet, but I can guarantee you he is here.

One more thing. When does the war of Revelation 19 take place? When Jesus comes back to earth as the Messiah; the King of Kings; after the seven years of wrath has come to an end.

So yes, there are multiple wars, both major and minor, with ongoing skirmishes constantly.